Teens rattled by lightning strikes in Spencer

SPENCER — A teenage brother and sister were shaken up during a lightning strike at their house shortly after 12:30 p.m. Monday.

Fire Capt. Robert A. Churchey said the siblings, who were inside 14 Bay Path Road, felt effects from lightning that hit behind 14, 16, 18 and 20 Bay Path Road, and both were evaluated for non-life-threatening injuries. One of the teens was taken to a Worcester hospital.

"No home took a direct hit," Capt. Churchey said. He said the storm set off commercial alarms at FLEXCon and the Crestview Garden apartments on Main Street, but nothing serious was found after investigations.

Robert LaPrade owns the home at 14 Bay Path Road, and both his grandchildren were downstairs in the back of the house. He said his 18-year-old granddaughter was talking on her cellphone, and his 15-year-old grandson was on the computer, when lightning struck in the back of the house.

"It hit so hard it blew the power out of the ground," Mr. LaPrade said. He said he was relieved that his grandchildren were not seriously injured. "That was a tough storm that passed through. This was one of the worst storms I've been through."

His next-door neighbor, Bruce Kennen of 18 Bay Path Road, said the lightning strike blew fixtures out of the wall.

"It was a strange occurrence," Mr. Kennen said. "It was like a hand grenade went off in the room."

Mr. Kennen said the lightning hit the ground and chased its way into the house.

"Not a pun on words," Mr. Kennen said, as he surveyed his home, "but the shock of the whole thing."

The power stayed on in the four houses, but Mr. Kennen said he was without Internet and phone service.

Capt. Churchey said a lightning strike Sunday night wrecked the alarm system at Howe Village, the elderly housing complex in town, and firefighters will be stationed there until the alarm system is repaired.

A short distance away, people were still arriving at the Spencer Fair.

Elsewhere in the region, thunderstorms with heavy rain closed Old Home Day in Charlton. The activities closed at 2:30 p.m., and the awards ceremony and parade scheduled for 3 p.m. were canceled, according to the fair's organizers.

A flash flood warning was in effect until 3:15 this afternoon for southern Worcester County, according to the National Weather Service.